William Hawkins (Canada)
| birth_place = Ottawa, Ontario | death_date = July | death_place = Ottawa, Ontario | occupation = Poet, Songwriter and Performer | years_active = 1963-1972; sporadically thereafter | nationality = Canadian }} William Alfred Hawkins (May 20, 1940 - July 4, 2016) was a Canadian poet, songwriter, musician and journalist,Profile of William Hawkins; www.wmhawkins.com. most notable for his contributions in the 1960s to Canadian folk rock music and to Canadian poetry. His best known song is "Gnostic Serenade", originally recorded by 3's a Crowd. Life :When I started writing songs, it was to put music to Bill Hawkins' lyrics. ::—Bruce Cockburn (2005), Preface to William Hawkins, ''Dancing Alone: Selected poems :''I just dropped out sometime in 1971, when I woke up in the Donwood Clinic, a rehab centre in Toronto, with no idea how I got there, weighing 128 lbs. and looking like a ghost in my six-foot frame. ::—William Hawkins (2008), describing his withdrawal from popular music and publication.Greg Quill, William Hawkins: Lost and Found Songwriters Magazine, Fall, 2008. Poet Hawkins' original interests were as a poet, which he addressed in the summer of 1963, through attending an intensive writing course for aspiring poets offered by the English department of the University of British Columbia. The course became known as the Vancouver 1963 Poetry Conference, which took place over 3 weeks in July and August, involving approximately 60 attendees.Description of the Vancouver 1963 Poetry Conference; www.slought.org. The course, designed by Warren Tallman and Robert Creeley, involved a juried assessment of a student's work, with invited faculty members including Allen Ginsberg, Charles Olson and Robert Duncan. Other attendees included Denise Levertov, Margaret Avison and Philip Whalen.See Warren Tallman. Hawkins begam publishing his poems in 1964, and enjoyed early success. 3 of his poems were selected by A.J.M. Smith for inclusion in his 1967 anthology,'' Modern Canadian Verse''. In addition, Hawkins became known for hosting and participating in poetry readings by major Canadian poets of the time, including Irving Layton, Leonard Cohen, Louis Dudek, Raymond Souster, Gwendolyn MacEwan, Jacques Godbout, and John Robert Colombo. Songwriter and Musician In 1965, Hawkins commenced his music career as a member of The Children, a seminal Canadian band, based out of Ottawa. In addition to Hawkins, band members included Sneezy Waters, Sandy Crawley and Neville Wells and, in later versions, Bruce Cockburn, David Wiffen, and Richard Patterson. The group had been formed at the encouragement of local impresario Harvey Glatt, who also became their manager. It was Glatt who first encouraged Hawkins to set his poems to music. The band developed a local prominence as resident performers at Le Hibou Coffee House, in which Glatt had an economic interest and which Hawkins and his then wife later managed. While they never released a record,Though one of Hawkins' songs, "It's A Dirty Shame", became a hit for another band, the Ottawa-based Esquires. In addition, several of Hawkins' songs, developed with The Children, were later recorded by 3s a Crowd. within months of their formation The Children were playing Maple Leaf Gardens, in Toronto, as an opening act for The Lovin' Spoonful.Profile of The Children; www.xtrememusician.com.Uncredited, Folk legends Cockburn, Tamblyn record tribute to Ottawa cabbie; www.cbc.ca. It was this particular performance that caused Hawkins to decide to cease performing publicly."...the house lights went up and I saw all these 14- and 15-year old kids screaming, and suddenly I felt out of place. I was twice their age. I turned to Bruce (Cockburn) as we walked off the stage and said, 'I'm finished'." William Hawkins (2008) as reported in Greg Quill, William Hawkins: Lost and Found Songwriters Magazine, Fall, 2008. The band also opened for The Beach Boys in Ottawa, while successor bands performed Hawkins' songs at the 1968 electoral victory party for Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, as well as in the movie soundtrack for Christopher's Movie Matinee; see William Hawkins - making music; www.wmhawkins.com. Hawkins' music has been described as being "timeless" and associated with "a beautiful melancholy".Ian Tamblyn, producer of and performer on Dancing Alone, as reported by Peter Langston, "Still Dancing after all these years"; Ottawa Citizen, October 2, 2008. He has been described as "a writer of supremely melodic songs, filled with stark despair and raw self-loathing, mixed with dark humour." In the late 1960's and early 1970's, Hawkins's songs were popularized by David Wiffen, both as a member of 3's a Crowd and as a solo artist. His songs were also covered by other artists, such as Tom Rush, who recorded a version of "Gnostic Serenade" on his Wrong End of the Rainbow album (1970).Rush had also popularized Wiffen's song "Driving Wheel" on the Tom Rush album (1970). Withdrawal Hawkins encountered increasing problems with substance abuse, particularly alcohol. After a period of time in the Donwood Institute in the early 1970's, for treatment for alcohol abuse, Hawkins largely withdrew from songwriting and published poetry. He opted instead to spend over 35 years as a taxi driver in Ottawa.Where he was ultimately sufficiently successful to be able to purchase his own "plate", or taxi license, rather than renting plate rights from others. Return and Tribute Album Hawkins gradually returned to music and poetry. In 1997, with the assistance of Ottawa musician Victor Nesrallah as producer/ musical accompanyist, Hawkins independentlyOn "Railroad Bill" Records, being a moniker frequently used by Hawkins. released Dancing Alone. The album was a collection of Hawkins singing his own songs, plus versions of his songs as recorded by 3s a Crowd and The Esquires. The album was a precursor to the later tribute album to Hawkins, recorded and released in 2008. Subsequent to the release of the 1997 Dancing Alone recording, Hawkins released a compendium of his poetry in 2005, as Dancing Alone: Selected poems. In this publication, Hawkins collected poems contained in his 5 books published between 1964 and 1974, plus new poems. Shortly thereafter, in 2007, Hawkins published a small collection of new poems, the black prince of bank street. In 2008, at the instigation of Harvey Glatt, who had first encouraged Hawkins over 40 years earlier,Peter Langston, "Still Dancing after all these years"; Ottawa Citizen, October 2, 2008. Dancing Alone: Songs of William Hawkins, a 2-CD tribute album, was released on True North Records, in which various artists interpreted 22 of Hawkins' songs. The artists contributing to the tribute album included Bruce Cockburn, Sandy Crawley, Mike Evin, Terry Gillespie, Murray McLauchlan, Lynn Miles, Ana Miura, Bill Stevenson, Ian Tamblyn, Brent Titcomb, Suzie Vinnick, Sneezy Waters, Anne Davison, and Neville Wells. Many of these artists first worked with Hawkins in the 1960s.Noticeably absent from the collaboration was David Wiffen, a major interpreter of several of Hawkins' earlier songs, both as a member of 3's a Crowd and otherwise. Wiffen, as a member of 3's a Crowd, sang the lead vocal on Hawkins' best known song, "Gnostic Serenade". Hawkins describes the "amazing instrument" of Wiffen's voice as being in his head when he wrote many of the songs to which Hawkins was paid tribute on Dancing Alone; see uncredited, Folk legends Cockburn, Tamblyn record tribute to Ottawa cabbie; www.cbc.ca. Wiffen's current circumstances are not publicly known. The significance of "Gnostic Serenade" was recognized on Dancing Alone through the inclusion of two versions, one by Titcomb and another by Stevenson. In 2010, Ottawa-based Apt. 9 Press published Sweet & Sour Nothings, Hawkins' 6th collection of poems. This was the first publication of the poems as a separate book; they had previously been included in a 1980 anthology edited by Patrick White, poet and founder of Anthos Press.Cameron Anstee, "A Note on the Text". Sweet & Sour Nothings (Apt. 9 Press, 2010) Anstee founded Apt. 9 Press.Portrait of Patrick White; www.urbanmarket.com. Also in 2010, Apt. 9 Press published The William Hawkins Folio, which included a descriptive bibliography of Hawkins' work, as well as reproductions of posters on which Hawkins' work had appeared, plus historical news clippings.Wm. Hawkins Folio Apt. 9 Press. Wordpress, Web, July 7, 2016. In 2015, Chaudière Books published The Collected Poems of William Hawkins, edited and with a comprehensive introduction by Cameron Anstee. Hawkins' last public performance was a reading from the collection, on November 28, 2015, under the auspices of the Ottawa International Writers Festival.Ottawa International Writers Festival, Notice of Reading by William Hawkins and Others, November 28, 2015. Retrieved 2016-07-04. Hawkins died in Ottawa, on July 4, 2016. Recognition In March 2013, William Hawkins was inducted in VERSeOttawa's Hall of Honour in recognition of his contribution to the Ottawa poetry community. Publications Poetry *''Shoot Low, Sheriff, They're Riding Shetland Ponies'' (with Roy MacSkimming). Ottawa: 1964. *''Two Longer Poems: The seasons of Miss Nicky by Harry Howith and Louis Riel by William Hawkins'' (with Harry Howith). Toronto: Patrician Press, 1965. *''Rubber Boots: Canto 1'' (poster). Ottawa: Nil Press, 196-? *''I Am a Boy Going Door to Door'' (poster). Ottawa: Nil Press, 196-? *''A Song of Flowers'' (poster). Ottawa: Nil Press, 196-? *''King Kong Goes to Rotterdam'' (poster). Ottawa: Nil Press, 196-? *''Postage Stamps'' (poster). Ottawa: Nil Press, 196-? *''2 Short Ones'' (poster). Ottawa: Nil Press, 196-? *''Ottawa Poems''. Kitchener, ON: weed/flower Press, 1966. *''Hawkins''. Ottawa: Nil Press, 1966.Poetry and Words, William Hawkins. Web, July 7, 2016. *''The Gift of Space: Selected poems, 1960-1970''. Toronto: New Press, 1971. *''The Madman's War''. Ottawa: S.A.W. Press, 1974. *''One Glimpse of a Girl''. Ottawa: S.A.W. Press, 1974. *''Sheila Frances Louise'' (chapbook). Ottawa: above/ground press, 2004? *''Dancing Alone: Selected poems''. Fredericton, NB: Broken Jaw Press, 2005. *''the black prince of bank street'' (chapbook). Ottawa: above/ground press, 2007. *''Sweet & Sour Nothings''. Ottawa: Apt. 9 Press, 2010. *''Collected Poems'' (edited by Cameron Anstee). Ottawa: Chaudiere Books, 2015. Anthologized *''New Wave Canada: The new explosion in Canadian poetry'' (edited by Raymond Souster). Toronto: Contact Press, 1966. *3 poems in Modern Canadian Verse (edited by A.J.M. Smith). Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1967. *''Northern Comfort'' (edited by Neil Flowers as "Monk Besserer"). Ottawa: Commoners Press, 1973.Northern Comfort (Commoners’ Press: Ottawa, 1973), Ottawa Poetry Newsletter, Apr. 23, 2011. Blogspot, Web, July 7, 2016. Folio *''The William Hawkins Folio''. Ottawa: Apt. 9 Press, 2010. ISBN 978-1-926889-00-9 Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:William Hawkins 1940, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computr Library Center Inc. Web, July 7, 2016. Audio / video *''Dancing Alone: Songs of William Hawkins''. Mississauga, ON: True North, 2005. *The Children, Time Capsule: The unreleased 1960's masters. Mississauga, ON: True North, 2013.The Children / Time Capsule: The unreleased 1960's masters, True North Records, June 18, 2013. Web, July 7, 2016. See also *List of Canadian poets *List of English-language songwriters References External links ;Audio / video *William Hawkins at YouTube ;Books *William Hawkins at Amazon.com ;About *Legendary Ottawa poet William Hawkins dies at age 76, CBC News *William Hawkins Official website Category:1940 births Category:2016 deaths Category:20th-century Canadian poets Category:Canadian male poets Category:21st-century Canadian poets Category:20th-century Canadian musicians Category:21st-century Canadian musicians Category:Canadian songwriters Category:Musicians from Ottawa Category:Canadian folk musicians Category:20th-century poets Category:Canadian poets Category:English-language poets Category:Poets Category:Songwriters